


This Was Supposed to be Easy

by raptormoon



Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: Fight Scene, Gen, I Don't Even Know, I haven't written anything for people older than six in years, I'm sure that's gonna show, Other, POV of a movie scene, Spoilers, Violence, Weird POV, kind of a song fic, shiny, what even is this title
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-11 13:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11149482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raptormoon/pseuds/raptormoon
Summary: Maui's point of view during "Shiny."Spoiler: he's not having fun. (Tamatoa is.)





	This Was Supposed to be Easy

**Author's Note:**

> Edit 6/10: Hey yo, a few formatting errors came to my attention so I've (hopefully!) fixed those. Writing and posting while on mobile is a very different experience lol.

Ok, so maybe it wasn’t the best plan ever. But it didn’t need to be! Maui was reasonably certain that the kid was clever enough to keep Tamatoa distracted while he got his fishhook; then he’d have it, swing it around a little, and save the day.

Easy!

He spotted some handholds to climb while whispering out some last minute advice, and ran over quick as a wink to get in place. Then, right on cue, right as the kid’s last question rang quietly in the empty air -

 _“Maui?”_ And as though the sound of his name was more of a summons than all the rest _-_

The ground began to shake, and up rose, _loomed_ , the giant crustacean known as Tamatoa.

Huh. He was even bigger than last time. Still missing that leg, though.

So far, so good. Kid was talking, crab was threatening, Maui started running for a jump…

...and stop! Pivot!

“Whoa! Oof!” His breath left loudly, despite his best effort at being quiet.

Oh crap, Maui thought, as he pulled himself back up. Oh man, don’t look this way….

 _“ ‘Cause you’re amazing!”_ Perfect! Appeal to his sense self-absorption. Blow his ego outta the water! Maui swung himself back up to the ledge and looked back. Damn that crab! That one _giant_ step forward was enough that while, yeah, Maui could still make that jump, the crab would definitely feel him landing on his shell.

He’d have to keep waiting for the next opportune moment.       

That’s when that damn crab just _had_ to start singing. Because of course he did.

 _“Well, Tamatoa hasn't always been this glam._   
_I was a drab little crab once!_ _  
Now I know I can be happy as a clam, because I'm beautiful, baby!”_

Oh, geeze. Maui was definitely going to throw up. Unless singing was part of an elaborate distraction, he'd rather everyone just left it alone.

But it was working. Tamatoa was distracting _himself_. Maui ducked back as the crab spun, and as he watched he could see Tamatoa growing more and more committed to putting on his little performance. He just needed to dance back just a little step…

From above, a whole slew of fish dropped from the bottom of the ocean and into the crab’s waiting mouth. Food! The perfect distraction! Maui ran and jumped again, stuck the landing (ten out of ten, of course), and scrambled up the shell to grab hold of his hook, just in time.

“Hey! Crab cake! I’m back.”

Elation bubbled through him. Finally, after a thousand years of waiting, a thousand-year-long boring nightmare of being stuck, in more ways than one…

 _Finally,_ he had his magical fishhook back. Time to use it! And maybe kick a little crustacean butt while he was at it - don't think I didn't see you almost eating a human there, Fish Breath.

“Chee-hoo!”

Wait a minute. That’s not right. Ok, a little rusty, no big, try again….

“Cheee-hooooooooo!”

The bottom fell out of Maui’s stomach. Dread began curling through his chest, though he fought it back down. He hadn’t stopped to think about his plan _not_ working. Hadn’t let himself think about just how _pissed_ Tamatoa was going to be, seeing him again. He’d waltzed right into the monster’s lair, arrogant as could be, and now here he was, defenseless.

_“Well, well, well!”_

Muscle up, buttercup, Maui thought to himself. So you’re at a _slight_ disadvantage. But you’re strong, and you have a weapon, and you’ve handed it to this particular crab plenty of times before.

Easy peasey!

But Tamatoa knew how to use his size to his advantage. His shell shook and bucked beneath Maui’s feet, and all too soon the demigod lost his precarious balance and slid off the giant, gilt carapace.

His firm grip on his fishhook remained. He was _never_ letting go again. Even when Tamatoa caught the curve of the hook, whatever the crab was planning, Maui would not let go for anything! 

_“You don't swing it like you used to, man!”_

Okay, he hadn’t expected to be swung around and tossed like so much dead weight. Hitting the wall of the lair hadn’t felt too good, either. Oh, was he angry now! That crab had better watch out.

And stop singing about me being your goddamn inspiration, he thought. We’re nothing alike!

He saw the pincer rushing in, braced for impact and swung to meet the hit. But Tamatoa had thought up a few new tricks, it seemed. Instead of the expected blow, Maui’s hook was simply caught and held, the sudden stop of momentum throwing him off balance. Then he was jerked off of his feet, tossed into the air….

Oh, no….

Smack! Into the ceiling. His head hit hard, snapping back, dazing him. His grip on his hook loosened.

Distantly, he became aware of falling. _  
_

_“Shiny!”_

Maui hit the ground hard. He couldn’t move. His hook wasn’t in his hand anymore. It _wasn't in his hand_ anymore! He had to get the hook, and save the girl (he could hear her screaming), and save the day.

He looked up. His hook was right there. He started inching toward it. Just get the hook, he told himself. Just get the hook back and everything will be better.

He reached, was so close, could almost grasp it-

A sharp pain pierced into his foot and he was dragged backwards. No! No! No!

That pain was lifted, only for a powerful, full-body hit from Tamatoa’s claw to crush him down into the sand.

Then everything happened in a split second. The realization that Tamatoa could have smeared him into a literal paste at any time during this so-called battle, was instead _playing_ with him like a cat with a mouse (like a monster with a meal). The crab was calculating every hit and remark to wear him down and wind him up. He wouldn’t kill Maui so soon; the audience had to be alive to suffer the monster’s revenge.

In that same split second, honest panic set in. A burst of energy gave Maui the speed he needed to get his hand on the hook again, but it overrode any inkling of the idea that maybe grabbing for his hook wasn’t the best plan right now.

Back into the air, though not so high. A pincer came crashing down against him once, twice, three times, knocking him for a loop and once again loosing his grip on his fishhook. Back to the ground Maui fell. This time, when he looked, his hook was nowhere in sight. He couldn’t make himself get up to search. He could feel the weight of Tamatoa’s malevolent gaze on him, and it froze him in terror.

_“Now it's time for me to take apart your aching heart.”_

Darkness fell. Some animal instinct deep within Maui held him frozen. What part of his mind was still thinking could only cringe in fear, awaiting whatever Tamatoa would dish out next.

With a gentleness that belied the monstrous crab’s strength, Maui’s hair was pushed aside, revealing what he considered to be his first scar: the tattooed image of his being cast away as an infant. The seat of every insecurity he had ever harbored. The secret that he had, once upon a time, entrusted to his friend.

The betrayal sliced into him like a cold knife.

Then, as though to countermand the earlier gentleness, Maui’s hair was clasped tightly, and he was painfully jerked up by it. Some small corner of his mind mourned the damage, but mostly he was taken by the pain, the fear, and the oncoming grogginess from taking too many hits in too short a time.

_“You tried to be tough, but your armor's just not hard enough.”_

He was flipped into a body hold, mercifully taking the tearing pressure off of his scalp, but all too soon he was slammed again into the wall. This time the pincer held him there, dragging his cheek along. If he weren’t made of such stern stuff, he thought it might have ripped his head off.

_“Maui!”_

Another toss into the air. Was he even breathing anymore? His chest felt so heavy, and so empty.

One of Tamatoa’s legs came up to kick Maui on his way back down. The force of the hit stunned him, and at first he didn’t realize he’d been bounced back onto the monster’s carapace, nor that his fishhook was once again within close reach. But then he did see it, doubled and waving dizzily as it was. He crawled to it, _knowing_ his hook was salvation with the same desperation he had held while trapped on that island.

The world started spinning. He felt momentum tugging at his feet, at his body. He scrabbled for purchase but found none amongst the golden coins littering the shell beneath him.

“ _Now I'll eat you, so prepare your final plea….”_

The spinning became faster, and he was thrown far from his hook, skidding into the sand.

_“Just for me.”_

Blearily, Maui looked up. Everything hurt, even his hair and his eyeballs. The bright neon glow of Tamatoa approached relentlessly, still singing in malicious glee, eyes flashing hatred and claws flexing threateningly.

It all happened so fast: Maui’s foot was caught in a punishing grip, his body flipped up and into Tamatoa’s mouth. He had one last thought to save himself; caught himself on the monstrous teeth and _pushed_ for all he was worth, with every last inch of strength he had left to him. He couldn’t hold it, though, any moment, any second now his muscles would fail and Tamatoa would finally make good on his promise to eat him.

_“Hey!”_

...What…?

_“I got something shiny for ya!”_

He was unceremoniously cast aside (again), but a cold and bitter relief swept through him nonetheless. Tamatoa thundered over him towards the kid, and Maui tried to stop him, tried to save her, but his strength was overtaxed. He didn’t even slow the crab down.

Maui let himself fall again to the ground, impotent rage and sorrow flooding through his veins. He had failed. He was a failure. Utterly and perfectly beat. And that stupid, brave, not-princess girl was going to pay for it.

When he looked up, to witness her last moments and mourn for them both, he was beyond surprised to see her shoving his fishhook into his chest.

_“We gotta go!”_

“Where-” did you come from? “What about the heart?” What just happened?

_“He can have it. I’ve got a better one.”_

And she did, he realized. A strong heart that had not given into fear or rage or helplessness. A heart that did not let her abandon her companion, that had instead saved him.

A better heart indeed. Moana’s heart was the best of them all.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry DX I haven't written any fanfic in forever and I'm out of practice. But I couldn't not.


End file.
